Legislative notebook: House bill would fight convictions of innocent

Updated 10:04 pm, Monday, May 13, 2013

The Texas House on Monday tentatively approved a bill aimed at reducing wrongful convictions.

Dubbed the "Michael Morton Act," Senate Bill 1611 would require prosecutors to turn over evidence to lawyers who represent the accused to help them prepare for defense and to ensure that key facts aren't hidden during trial.

The bill was named in honor of Michael Morton, who spent nearly 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. The district attorney at Morton's trial, Ken Anderson, is accused of deliberately withholding evidence from the defense that indicated Morton's innocence.

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Morton was recognized in the House gallery moments before the bill passed on a voice vote. It still needs to clear a final vote before being sent to Gov. Rick Perry.

Perry spokesman Josh Havens said the governor "supports efforts to open up discovery during criminal cases."

Group marches around Capitol for gun rights

A group "demanding" votes on gun-friendly legislation hoped showcasing their firearms at a rally Monday would encourage lawmakers to pass bills that would void gun-free zones, allow concealed handgun licensees to carry pistols openly and require universities to allow guns in classrooms.

"We aren't really protesting, we are demanding," said Michelle Prescott, founder of Texan Gun Rights, prior to leading a march of about 40 gun rights advocates around the outside of the Capitol.

The group, which had about 10 individuals strapped with rifles and shotguns including at least five AR-15s, were urging lawmakers to vote on House Bill 700, known as the "open-carry" bill, HB 3218, which would get rid of gun-free zones, and Senate Bill 182, which would require schools to allow CHL holders to carry guns in college classrooms.

Some activists carried AR-15s, other rifles and shotguns at the rally, while others carried signs reading, "Don't Tread On Me," and "The 1st Amendment doesn't exist without the 2nd."

Scott Trent, an Austin-area activist who carried his 12-gauge shotgun accessorized with a pistol-grip, said he "was going to bring an AR-15, but I figured that's what everyone else would bring."

State law allows individuals to carry long rifles openly, but pistols must be concealed and the individual must have a state-issued license.

Ellis bill seeks to control photos of crime scenes

The Texas Senate on Monday voted to amend the Texas Public Information Act to limit media's access to certain crime scene photos, and the measure now heads to the House for approval.

Authored by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, Senate Bill 1512 would limit the release of photos "that depict a deceased person in a state of dismemberment, decapitation, or similar mutilation or that depicts the deceased person's genitalia," the bill states.

Those photos would not be required to be released under an open records request, the bill states, but could be released to the deceased person's next of kin, a defendant accused in the death or the defendant's attorney, or a "bona fide member of the news media who is engaging in a news-gathering activity."

An analysis of the bill states that while Texas newspapers likely will not print the gruesome photos in the paper, "the problem lies in ordinary people being able to request the pictures and then reproducing them on the Internet. This makes it very difficult for the victims' families to move on and heal after losing a loved one."

Perry sent bill raising age to use tanning salon

The Texas House has approved a bill to raise the minimum age for using a tanning facility to 18.

The bill by Houston Republican Sen. Joan Huffman cleared the Senate last month. The lower chamber used a voice vote Monday to send the measure to Gov. Rick Perry, who can sign it into law.

The current minimum age is 16½ with parental permission. Supporters say it should be raised to help reduce the cases of skin cancer.

A bill analysis reports that there are about 70,000 new cases of invasive melanoma annually, and that the disease is one of main causes of cancer deaths in women between 25 and 30.

The bill is supported by doctors, but opposed by the tanning industry and conservatives who call it an erosion of "parental rights."